It is about time to tell everyone a little bit about one of our sponsors and the great people that work there. Thule (pronounced "too-luh") has joined on as a sponsor of the expedition and, as you may or may not be aware, produce some excellent roof rack systems and storage devices. We have been working with Thule USA and their marketing director Steve Doviak for some time, but have only recently outfitted the vehicles as a result of timing issues and the long wait for the cars to arrive in Australia. Luckily, Thule USA was able to work with us and our ever evolving schedule and put us into contact with Adrian Van Bellen of Thule Australia.
Immediately after peeling out of the shipping yard with the Tundra and the Sequoia, we headed strait to Thule Australia’s headquarters north of Sydney where Adrian was already waiting for us. Adrian gave us a tour of the retail shop and warehouse, revived us with some refreshments and had an Ocean roof box for the Sequoia and a Ranger 90 weather-proof storage bag for the Tundra set aside and ready to be installed. Adrian was a great help and his genuine enthusiasm and excitement about the expedition was welcome after a long day finalizing the shipping of the Toyotas. In hardly no time at all, we had some great looking equipment on the vehicles. As everyone knows, there have been some ups, downs and challenges to overcome, but it is with support from people like Adrian and companies like Thule that recharge our spirits and keep us focused on the road ahead.
